Enhancing in-store experiences across 17 markets for a telecoms company

20.09.2016

We helped our client assess the global performance of its new retail concept and customer service strategy as well as to create plans to address markets where execution fell short of expectations.

Situation

Our client was launching a new retail store concept and customer service strategy with the aim of delivering consistent service across all its markets. The new concept was designed to offer an enhanced consumer journey across all in-store touchpoints and we conducted mystery shopping to assess how consistently the strategy was executed across 17 countries.

Approach

We carried out mystery shops at 6,000 stores around the world to track the deployment of the new strategy during the initial rollout period. Our mystery shoppers either asked for information about how to switch to our client’s network or made a basic after-sales enquiry. The program assessed all aspects of the in-store experience, from the physical point of sales presence to how store staff interacted with clients when trying to close a sale.

Outcome

We generated an overall retail experience picture for each market, scenario and store type, which in turn helped us create an ongoing benchmark for execution of the new store concept. We also created action plans to improve performance in markets that were not executing well on the new strategy. The client tracked performance of its stores via an interactive web portal and our research showed how factors such as demo devices, staff enthusiasm and the appeal of the store environment affected customer satisfaction. It also provided evidence that shopper satisfaction was higher in stores where the new concept was deployed.